Flame retardant fabrics are desirable for use in the manufacture of furniture upholstery, curtains, mattress tickings, bedspreads and the like for domestic use as well as for use in institutions, hotels or other commercial establishments, where the safety element associated with such fabrics is desirable. In some states the use flame retardant bedding upholstery in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, mental institutions, prisons, universities and the like, is required by law.
Flame retardance has been achieved in heavy cotton fabrics such as A.C.A. striped mattress ticking, by treating the cotton fabric with a hydrated sodium borate compound. The sodium borate treatment functions both to reduce the rate of travel of the flame through the fabric, as well as to contribute a self-extinguishing property to the fabric, such that upon removal of the external flame source, the treated fabric itself is substantially incapable of supporting a flame.
In addition to the property of flame retardance, for many applications it is desirable that a fabric be bacteriostatic and/or fungistatic as well as water resistant. Treated fabrics having these combined properties would be extremely well suited for use in the manufacture of mattress tickings for use in institutions such as hospitals or prisons. Of course, a fabric employed as a mattress ticking for institutional use must also be resistant to the extreme wear associated with institutional usage. The A.C.A. striped ticking mentioned above has acceptable wear resistance properties. However, the chemical resistance of this fabric is poor and, therefore, its flame retardance deteriorates as a result of exposure to conventional cleaning processes.
U.S. Pat No. 3,279,986 discloses a coated fabric which has acceptable wear properties, is flame retardant, and is also resistant to chemical attack. The fabric disclosed by this reference comprises a nylon scrim coated or laminated on both sides with a flexible sheet of polyvinyl chloride which incorporates about 0.10 to 0.60% of a bis-(tri-n-alkyltin) sulfosalisylate bacteriocidal compound. However, due to the relatively large amount of polyvinyl chloride employed by the polymeric vinyl layers of this product, when exposed to a direct flame the vinyl layer chars and releases relatively large amounts of toxic fumes.
Fiberglass fabrics and wools have been employed in the manufacture of fireproof mattress pads. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,632,187 and 2,801,427.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,427 (hereinafter '427) discloses a fireproof bed pad or mattress cover comprised of an inner layer of aluminum foil sandwiched between two insulating layers formed from a mineral wool of fiberglass. The outermost surface layer of the mattress pad described by this reference is comprised of a waterproof cloth.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,632,187 (hereinafter '187) discloses a fire resistant and water repellant mattress pad comprised of a thick inner fiberglass batting layer contained between a facing or upper layer of fiberglass cloth, and a backing layer of cotton fabric.
Although the fiberglass layers of the mattress pads disclosed by the '427 and '187 patents are flame retardant and flame resistant, the outer cloth layers of the mattress pads disclosed by these references provide a potential source of flammable material which could be hazardous in the event of fire.
Woven or matted fiberglass coated with lacquer coating compositions have also been employed in the manufacture of window shades which are resistant to deterioration by sunlight, water, heat and cold. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,381,542 (hereinafter '542). The fiberglass coatings disclosed by the '542 patent are prepared from cellulose derivative fiber formers and do not include fire retardants, fungicides or bacteriocides.
In addition to fiberglass coated window shades, it is also known to coat thin fiberglass sheets with polyester. The coated fiberglass sheets are bonded as a laiminate to printed circuit sheets formed from copper.
It is also known to coat burlap fabrics suitable for use as wall coverings with flame retardant coating compositions. In particular, burlap fabrics have been coated with a fire retardant plasticized polyvinyl chloride based coating composition containing antimony pentaoxide.
Although the prior art discloses coated fabrics, the prior art does not provide a chemically coated fiberglass fabric which is flame retardant, fungistatic, bacteriostatic, impermeable to liquids such as water or urine, resistant to chemical attack, and which does not release dangerous amounts of toxic fumes when it burns.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coated fiberglass fabric which possesses each of the properties listed above.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a fiberglass based mattress ticking or cover possessing each of the properties listed above, and which is particularly well suited for use on mattresses employed in institutions such as hospitals or prisons or for commercial use in hotels, or in other settings where extreme usage conditions prevail.